Wednesday, October 30, 2013

About that art project...

Back in July, I posted an idea for an art project. It would be a coffee table (or something similar) with an acrylic layer on top. Inside the acrylic would be old video games that don't work anymore. I had mentioned a few other themes that I could also employ here, like a music theme using broken/worn out records and tapes. A few days ago, an old High School friend sent me a link to a website that has the stuff I need to make the clear epoxy resin. It isn't going to be cheap but, it is still worthwhile.

Anyway, my collection of crap to use for this kind of project has been steadily growing...

I.) Music

78 Records & LP's

- Black Sabbath - Paranoid
- Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin IV
- A 78 record with music from the Classical composer Richard Wagner

45 Singles

- A 45 single of Elvis Presley that is hopelessly scratched. (This one just makes me sad...)

Cassettes

- AC/DC - For those about to Rock
- Journey - Frontiers
- Ozzy Osbourne - No rest for the wicked
- Ugly Kid Joe - As ugly as they wanna be

Don't worry, music lovers. I have back-up copies of all of these Rock albums on multiple formats, including Cassette, CD & and/or Vinyl. Ugly Kid Joe is an exception that that rule. There's nothing wrong with the tape. I just think that band sucks. The liner notes that came with the tapes might also go into the resin along with the tapes. The cases will be re-used for any other old tapes of mine that may need one.

II.) Old games

Atari 2600 cartridges

Atlantis*
Kaboom!*
Keystone Kapers*
Megamania*
Ms. Pac-Man*
Othello
River Raid*
Space Attack
Space Cavern


* = I have other working copies of these cartridges. The rest I'll just play in an emulator.

Other systems

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2)
Halo 2 (XBOX)
The Italian Job (GCN)

I have other copies of the GTA & Halo games. These unplayable copies were given to me for free. I wouldn't want to have the Italian Job game in my collection. Games based on movies are almost always terrible.

There's also another art project that's been rolling around in the back of my head for a while. I've seen this in both a record store and someone's personal residence. It's one of those doors/curtains that are usually made of beads, except this one is made of old cassette tapes. I don't have enough in my collection to make one (let alone enough worn out copies) but, Goodwill always has plenty of tapes for sale. (Usually for less than a dollar each.) All I'd need is the tapes, a lot of cable/electrical ties, a curtain rod strong enough to hold the weight and a can of black spray paint. I don't mind using tapes of artists whose music I don't like but, I'll be damned if anyone actually knows that I allowed crap recordings into my home.

- Lord Publius

Addendum: 31 Oct 2013 1536 Hours

Acquired 2 more GameCube games that can be used for this project. Both of them are sports titles: Madden '07 and All-Star Baseball 2002. The Madden game got pretty good ratings on GameFAQs but, it's an old Madden game. There is no resale value. The Baseball game was not very highly rated at all. I doubt either would be missed if they ended up in some acrylic.

Various pet peeves about Retro gaming/collecting...

As a game collector, there are certain things that drive me nuts. Here are a few of them...

1.) Claiming a game is rare when it's not, just because you know it's popular and want to drive up the price...

I'm not paying $50 or more for a loose copy of a Zelda game on the NES. No, I don't give a shit if it's the gold cartridge. Nintendo sold AT LEAST 4 MILLION of those in the 1980's. They are very popular but, they sure as shit are NOT rare. The 'Classic Series' re-issues from 1993 in the grey cartridge are probably worth more just because Nintendo didn't make as many of them.

PRO-TIP: I'm not paying much for those, either. I have them already and don't need any back-ups or duplicates right now, thank you very much.

2.) Consoles without cables/controllers/essential accessories...

Unless it's used for spare parts or given to me for free, I want the damned AV and power cables, guy! No, it doesn't matter if I already have 3 other consoles just like it or not! I may need all of them to be up and running at the same time. What if I want to set up a tournament with a game on that system? (Ex. Mario Kart tournaments on N64.)

3.) Stickers on the case, the back of the cartridge and/or the cartridge label...

Fucking price tags all over the damned box and/or cartridge! Fuck YOU, Goodwill! I don't want your damned price tags on the back of my Game Boy games and PS2 cases! I really hate that shit!

4.) Carts with missing or damaged labels

This is a big problem for old Atari 2600 cartridges. The same can be said about it's competition from the Intellivision and Colecovision. Ditto for the Atari 7800.

Surprisingly enough, it doesn't seem to be a problem with cartridges for the Atari 5200. That is probably the ONLY thing that no one has a problem with on the Atari 5200 too. [/Snap]

I rarely have that problem with any of Nintendo and SEGA's cartridge-based consoles.

Still, don't try to charge me much for a game with a missing or damaged label. Just because the goods are secondhand doesn't mean that I will accept them looking like complete shit.

5.) Games at thrift stores that are missing the manual, covers and/or original cases.

I can understand old Nintendo cartridges from NES/SNES/N64, the GameBoy line and all the Atari consoles missing their box and instruction manuals. Most kids threw them away and the boxes were just cheap cardboard that probably wouldn't last over time.

However, some games had hard plastic shells that were made specifically to protect them. So, why do so many SMS/Genesis cartridges and PS1/PS2/Dreamcast/XBOX/GCN games NOT have their jewel/DVD-style cases anymore? WTF?

I have 3 GCN games that are using old PS2 or DVD cases right now instead of their original cases. I do have covers for them, thanks to the Cover Project. However, I want GCN cases for them instead. GameCube games do NOT belong in PS2 cases. Especially good titles like Geist, Gun and Mega Man X Collection.

6.) Game discs in a CD spindle, forcing me to go through the whole spindle to try and find what I want... If anything...

That is a real time waster. It's also probably not very good for the games, either.

7.) Sports games clogging up the bin at second-hand stores flea markets and garage sales.

No one wants an old Madden game for the NES. No one even wants last year's Madden game for one of the current consoles. Quit taking them in, people. They aren't really worth a shit when they are new, let alone from 20 years ago.

There are very few exceptions to this rule. (NBA Jam, Mario sports titles, Wii Sports titles)

- Lord Publius

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Getting a PS3 controller to work with emulators

SUCCESS!!!

After spending 2 hours (or more) on this little Mad Science project, I FINALLY got the damned thing to work! I now have the ability to use a PS3 controller while playing games on a Super NES emulator.  (In this case, a 64-Bit compatible version of ZSNES that I found online.) It was a long and arduous journey into the Nerd Kingdom, a truly EPIC quest, to be sure. However, I was VICTORIOUS.

First, I had to replace my NES and SuperNES emulators since the old ones didn't work with 64-Bit Windows 7. I decided to run these emulators on my laptop since it hasn't had any other real use for months now. Surprisingly, my emulators for Atari 2600 and Atari 7800 (Stella 3.6 and ProSystem 1.3, respectively) worked fine. Go figure...  Anyway, I got ZSNES v1.51 for Super NES and NEStopia 1.40 for the NES games.

After that, I had to download a program called MotioninJoy, to configure the controllers. While Windows recognized the device, it still did not work. Why? Because there were no drivers installed. Fuck!!!

So, I went to MotininJoy's download website for the drivers and installed them. After they were installed, MotioninJoy recognized the controller and I could test all the buttons and analog sticks. It all worked fine. :)

After all of that trouble, ZSNES FINALLY let me configure the controls for the PS3 Controller to work in that program. Before I knew it, I was playing the first level in Super Mario World. Yay!

As always, there are kinks to work out (i.e. Mario refusing to jump off of Yoshi's back)  but, it works. I am happy for now.
I'll work out said kinks, configure the other emulators and get my old PS2 controller to work with them sometime later. I'm tired and I want to do something else now.

- Lord Publius


Sunday, October 27, 2013

#1 automotive reason why I hate Democrats: They murdered Pontiac

A lot of people (usually idiot Democrats that blindly believe anything Obama and the Media tell them) think I'm nuts when I told them that the government killed off Pontiac. Well, if they won't believe me, perhaps they'll believe former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz...

"The Feds basically wanted to get GM down to Cadillac and Chevrolet."

"I wanted, badly wanted, to keep Pontiac, because Pontiac was on its way back, and it had been mismanaged for a number of years, you know, with 'rebuild excitement,' and the excitement was only in the plastic body cladding..."

"We were embarked on a strategy of making Pontiac different from the rest of GM in that Pontiac wouldn't get any front wheel drive cars, they would all be rear-wheel drive, and the next G6, was going to use the architecture of the Cadillac ATS, it was going to be a 3-series sized rear-wheel Pontiac, with basically the Cadillac ATS 'de-premiumized,' obviously, a lot of the cost taken out, but still fundamentally that architecture."

"...but the Feds said "yeah, let's just, how much money have you made on Pontiac in the last 10 years?" and the answer was "nothing." So, it goes. And, when the guy who is handing you the check for 53 billion dollars says I don't want Pontiac, drop Pontiac or you don't get the money, it doesn't take you very long to make up your mind."

Sources:

http://jalopnik.com/the-feds-killed-pontiac-bob-lutz-says-1452735716

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4fsxqeVV_c

And that is why you DON'T make deals with the Devil from that Hell that is the District of Columbia. They didn't know anything about cars and could not see the potential that Pontiac had coming in the next few years. Like the accountants that had run (and badly mismanaged) GM in the 1980's and 1990's, they were only worried about the cash being generated and NOT the product.

And that, above all else, is the #1 reason why I wish Barack Obama and his ilk would die from a combination of Pancreatic and Testicular Cancer. If Pontiac were around today, my next car might have come from them instead of another Buick or Chevrolet. (Not that I have anything against owning another Bowtie or the fine automobiles from the Tri-shield division...)

Now, thanks to these idiots, there will never be another Firebird, GTO, Solstice, Grand Am, Grand Prix, Bonneville, Tempest, Star Chief or any of those other great cars that made Pontiac the 'Excitement Division' in years past. Thanks a LOT, Democrats. As usual, you go out of your way to destroy anything associated with America, Freedom or Fun. I hope you all choke.

- Lord Publius

Monday, October 21, 2013

Looking Back On The Wii...









I will miss this console when it is finally discontinued. It managed to do what many thought was impossible: Make Nintendo a market leader in consoles again. Any other company that dominated the market with a console (Atari, Sony) or at least had an extremely successful one (SEGA) and then messed up would never see dominance again. Many of those companies never even saw success again.

Many thought that Nintendo was in a slow death spiral with regard to consoles after N64 and GameCube failed to dominate. The Wii took everyone by complete surprise, just by being different and focusing on fun instead of graphics and other fanboy obsessions. This console proved that there is still a LOT of room for originality in games, despite the industry becoming another big entertainment business like Music, Hollywood Movies and Television. It deserves its status as one of the greatest selling consoles of all time. I will always fondly remember this console and it will hold a special place of Honor in my collection.

- Lord Publius

Total Number of Nintendo Games?

There are some fanboys/noobs/jackasses out there that talk about how Nintendo doesn't have any games. Well, apparently, they haven't done a lot of research... And truthfully, neither did I. I just checked the game guide on Nintendo's website and Wikipedia. However, just how much more research would be necessary to prove a point in a never-ending nerd debate that's almost as tiresome as 'Kirk vs. Picard', huh? (BTW, Kirk would win.)

TOTAL NUMBER OF NINTENDO GAMES

I.) Consoles

NES - 709
SNES - 784
N64 - 387
GCN - 648 (552 in the North American Market)
Wii - 1,222 as of May 23, 2013 (1,952, according to the game guide on Nintendo.com, accessed 21 Oct 2013)
WiiU - 216 so far, including retail and download-only titles (176, according to the game guide on Nintendo.com, accessed 21 Oct 2013)

II.) Portables

GameBoy - 815
Super GameBoy-enabled cartridges for NGB & GBC - 509
GameBoy Color - 469
GameBoy Advance - 973 (Best estimate)
DS - 1,823 (According to the game guide on Nintendo.com, accessed 21 Oct 2013)
3DS - 512 (According to the game guide on Nintendo.com, accessed 21 Oct 2013)

SOURCES:

I.) Consoles

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nes_games

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_SNES_games

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_N64_games 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Gamecube_games

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wii_games

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wii_U_games

http://www.nintendo.com/games/gameGuide

II.) Portables

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_games_for_the_original_Game_Boy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Super_Game_Boy_games

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Game_Boy_Color_games

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Game_Boy_Advance_games

http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?94623-How-many-Game-Boy-Advance-games-are-there-now

http://www.nintendo.com/games/gameGuide

So, as you can clearly see, they have a great abundance of games. As to whether or not any of them will be to your liking is an entirely different matter.

- Lord Publius

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Game Emulators on a small low-powered Netbook...

I recently decided to pull my old Netbook out of storage and put some emulators on it since that device doesn't really have any other function anymore. Anyway, here's what has been done so far...

Emulators that I have successfully installed/used on my Netbook...

Stella 3.1.2 (Atari 2600)
ProSystem 1.3 (Atari 7800)
NESticle v0.42 (NES)
ZSNES (Super NES)

Emulators that need ROM's before I will install them...

I need ROMs that work for the following Emulators of various old systems. I'm not sure where I'll find some yet. I have yet to deploy my Google-Fu on the subject...

BGB version 1.12 (Original Nintendo GameBoy) http://bgb.bircd.org/
VisualBoyAdvance-1.8.0-beta3 (GBA)
Gens (SEGA Genesis)
Nostalgia 4.2 (Mattel Intellivision)
Project Tempest v0.95 (Atari Jaguar)
Project64 Version 1.6 (Nintendo 64)

I'm going to need something a LOT more powerful than my netbook to run Project Tempest. According to the official website, a 2+ GHz processor is needed to run the games with sound. It also hasn't been updated in over 9 years. Something tells me that the project has been abandoned. That's too bad...

Even worse, there's no Mac or Linux version. Guess I'll have to run that emulator on my Desktop on either the Windows drive or in WINE on the Linux drive. I'll try it in WINE first. If it doesn't work very well, I'll switch to the Windows drive. I'll also try it on that Win7 laptop of mine (which has also been sitting idle for a while) and see if it can run on that machine. If so, I may have found a new use for it besides editing videos for YouTube in Windows Movie Maker.

Anyway, the emulators installed are working fine. I'll need to find more ROMs for that Super NES emulator but, the others are fine for now. I have all (or at least most) of the ROM's I want for the Atari 2600/7800 and NES right now. Speaking of Atari 7800, there's a game I have heard of on that system for years called Ninja Golf, which I finally got to try. That game's whole premise is so whacky and absurd that it's downright awesome. Someone has to remake this game for modern machines. It would be a blast!

- Lord Publius

Just to show off...

Felt like bragging a little so, here's a few pics I've taken of various games/systems/accessories in my collection over the years. These pics were taken all over the world between 2007 and 2013. They do NOT represent the entirety of my collection.

First, some Atari stuff...














Now some Nintendo stuff...



































And now, SEGA...






 PS3 Stuff...



And now a bunch of random pics of games for various systems...

















- Lord Publius